BOOKSHOP VENT

Note to Bookshop Owners: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chinua Achebe are not the only authors in Nigeria. And it is not everyone read motivational books

I went all the way to Yaba on Wednesday with one mission, to buy Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TheThing Around Your Neck and Helon Habila’s Measuring time. I got my copy of Measuring Time at the Unilag bookshop during my last visit there, but I did not see a reason to go all the way down there. There are over 30 bookshops if not more in yaba, 90% of them do not even sell Nigerian Literature books but stock various so called motivational books and professional textbooks. The 10% which bother to stock Nigerian Literature have never heard the name HELON HABILA not to talk of selling his books. This 10% who sell Nigerian literature only have Chimamanda Ndozi Adichie’s Purple’s Hibiscus and Half of a yellow sun, most have never heard of her latest book, The Thing around Your neck. Chinua Achebe’s works they stocked in multitude, thanks to WAEC for this. After walking the length and breadth of Yaba market, I finally saw a bookshop which had The thing around your neck

The next day, I went to the Unilag bookshop and they had also run out of Measuring Time, I could not leave a bookshop without buying any book (no more visit to any bookshop any time soon). I was lost in the sea of books, all calling out to be read and not sure which to choose since i could not go home with all of them, then I saw it, calling out to me at the same spot where the book I had originally visited the bookshop was last placed...Myne Whitman’s A Heart to Mend.

These are the latest addition to my ever growing library

I need to have a book budget...the rate at which i buy books and magazines nowadays call for caution. Books I understand but most of the magazine I do not read for months, why I keep buying them, I do not know. I wish I was this passionate about recommended texts while in school.

And yeah on my bed spread is the 101 dalmatians, blame it on my aunt who bought it.
Also the poem in the last post was not written by me

For Myne: Is the raffle still on
Naija Blogsville is mourning the loss of its own, sad I never read his blog till today when i saw the farewell posts. May The Good God grant his family the stregth to bear the loss and may he also find eternal peace.

Thanks for your comment on my last post. Nigerian writers here are not given the opportnity i guess but i thank God some writers like Myne are doing well on their own. I am sure the outside world only thinks Nigeria can only boast of these two authors. I might be wrong though. Just joined you.

A good rant, if I may say so, and absolutely warranted. Naija bookshops need to appreciate naija writers more. There's so much happening on the naija literacy scene and it's a shame that this does not appear to reflect on the naija reading public.